Message Templates Structure Explained

Message templates are feature-rich messages that consist of different parts, such as the header, body, footer, and buttons. Let’s look at each of these in detail.

Header

A message template can have four types of headers: Plain Text, Media, Carousel, and Limited Time Offer.

Plain-text

When you select the header type as text, the content appears at the top of the message in bold. The header text can be up to 60 characters long. You can also add a variable like {{1}} to personalize the header. We’ve covered this in detail in this article: Personalize Message Template with Variables.

Media

If you select the type as media, you can choose from three media options to include in the header:

1. Image
2. Video
3. Document

You can add only one media file per message template. The media uploaded during template creation acts as a placeholder and can be replaced with another media file when sending the template.

Carousel

If you create a Marketing Message and choose Carousel as your template type, you can add up to 10 image or video cards in the header to create a sliding carousel. Note that all cards in the carousel must use the same media type.

Limited Time Offer

Similarly, if you create a Marketing Message and choose Limited Time Offer as your template type, you can add an offer title, expiry date, and coupon code in the header to clearly highlight the offer details.

The header is an optional field.

Body

The body is where you add the main message content. You can enter up to 1,024 characters and format the text using the following shorthands:

1. Bold: \*text\* will make it text
2. Italics: \_text\_ will make it text
3. Strikethrough: ~text~ will make it text
4. Monospace or code: “text“ will make it text

Like the header, you can also add variables to personalize the body content. There is no limit to the number of variables (e.g., {{1}}, {{2}}, {{3}}) as long as the total content stays within the character limit.

Note that the body is a required field.

Footer

You can also add a footer text to your message templates. The footer can be up to 60 characters long, but it cannot include variables.

Footers are typically used to show your business name or add messages like “Reply STOP to unsubscribe” to inform users to perform certain actions.

Footer text is an optional field.

Buttons

You can also add buttons to your message templates. In total you can add up to 10 buttons. Here are different types of buttons you can add:

1. Call to Action – You can add buttons like Visit Website, Call Phone Number, Copy Offer Code, View Form, View Product Catalog and so on.
2. Quick Reply – You can add quick reply buttons with short text (with up to 25 characters). When a customer clicks on any of these buttons, the text is sent back to you in the chat.

Buttons are optional and you may or may not add them in your templates.

Now that we’ve looked into the structure of a message template, let’s see how to create a Marketing Message in WANotifier.

Updated on: 25/06/2025